Music streaming apps for the Indian Audiophile

Who doesn’t love having choices? It gives you the liberty to pick the best one you like. No one hates music. Everyone just has their own choice. From Ghazal to Rock, tune in to the music that beckons your heart right away.

That’s all great, but where do you listen to music from. If you have an iPhone, iTunes it is. If you have an android, Music player or Google Play Music. How about the other sources. There are multiple platforms where you can quench your thirst for music.

Tidal

This is where your serious thirst for music ends. The most popular High Resolution music streaming service, Tidal is a haven for audiophiles. No one likes low quality, do you? When your music is compressed to mp3, it loses a lot of information, leading to loss in quality. Tidal helps you stream your favourite tracks in lossless quality FLAC and WAV format.

Just 20 dollars a month, gives you the best quality music in the world. High Fidelity music at 9000 kbps instead of 320 kbps mp3 files, will certainly give you the boost to pursue music at a higher taste. However, the app isn't officially available on the Indian app stores, so you might have to go through some hoops to install the app. But once you have it installed and set up, it works flawlessly.

Qobuz

If not Tidal, then definitely Qobuz. This music streaming service from France boasts of hosting over 40 million music tracks in HQ quality. You also can subscribe to its paid service at 10 dollars a month to get access to all their High Fidelity files. Qobuz is recommended by most Hi-Fi brands around the world, this in turn means you can use Qobuz on the players and headphones. Download tracks and albums to your device or stream the most popular music tracks online. Your only compromise here will be that you gotta check in via VPN or an international ID. Don't compromise on your music.Qobuz can be streamed on Android, iOS and web platforms.

Apple Music (iTunes)

Probably the only music player for iOS, every iPhone user is quite acquainted with iTunes. From it’s simple yet sophisticated interface to sorting of tracks by artist and album. Making playlists is as easy as strolling in the park. The only difficulty people face is while transferring files from desktops to phones. Apple set the trend in the audio market by giving you the option of just buying a song for a dollar instead of purchasing the whole album. An annual subscription is cheaper than a buying a shoe. This gives you access to all the free music, broadcasts and early access to albums released around the world.

The choice to access music from anywhere on your iPhone, Mac or Apple TV is what we all love. iTunes doesn't actually provide High Fidelity audio, but does support buying them.

Google Play Music

When Google comes into play, it has no limits to give what the people want. YouTube already is the king of online content. What about the android users not accessing the internet every time? In comes, Google Play Music. It is the perfect audio player for the songs in your phone or external storage. Google Play Music now also allows you to purchase tracks after a subscription. It also streams audio of your favourite YouTube videos. From accessing live audio stations to using equalisation modes and bass boost for your music, this app is the perfect android music player if you aren't exactly looking for portable Hi-Fi music.

Deezer

Stream any song, anywhere, anytime in HD. One of the best web streaming services for High Quality music. It gives you a Flow playlist, that consists of songs you played mostly and songs you liked from your past activity. With a premium plus plan, download and save offline any tracks to listen through your device. Create your own mixes and playlists with defined shuffle to never tune out of your favourite tracks. Find lyrics flowing along as you listen to songs. Again, for just 10 dollars a month, jump into unlimited high quality tracks.

Spotify

The most preferred and popular music streaming service in the world. Though officially not available in India, this the most accessed app via VPN and international IDs. Browse through the most famous tracks, albums and playlists. Track to what the world is listening to in the Top playlists. With Spotify launching HD streaming, Audiophiles will definitely get back to Spotify like newbies. Spotify your music.

Available for iOS, Android, Web, Playstation, Windows and Hi-Fi speakers.

Gaana

As the name says, tune into your favourite Gaana (Song). India’s most preferred audio streaming destination. Your favourite songs categorized by Language, Genre and Popularity. Be up to date with the top 50 playlist on Gaana. There are also 24 hour online radio stations that make you feel like in yesteryear. It also allows you to save songs offline in your mobile application. Other than being the only Indian music portal streaming audio at 320kbps, Gaana plus subscription gives you an option to download unlimited songs to your device. Not exactly an alternative to Hi-Fi music, but 320 is preferable compared to 64 and 128 kbps streaming services.

Gaana is available for android, iOS and Windows.

Saavn

Now this one is probably the most popular music streaming service of all in India, with more than 60 million users across iOS and Android. They were the first truly compelling service available to Indian users with a streamlined Application and the widest catalogue of artists and albums. Along with Hindi and English, they also have a selection of 12 other regional languages, Tamil, Punjabi, Marathi for example. Saavn also has a great set of featured playlists that are well curated and have something for everything, whether it be the users moods, activity, genre preference, etc. They also have a Radio feature with a variety of stations in several languages, so you can discover new music of any artist you like, or your preference of genre or even a featured station. A Saavn Pro subscription costs about Rs.99 a month, where you can use the service across 5 devices. The Pro subscription also allows you to download the music of your choice for offline listening and you can also listen at a higher bit rate of 320kbps, which is not lossless, but it is pretty great nonetheless.

Saavn is available for android, iOS and Windows.

Shazam

Ever wondered what was the song going on in the club that night. Happens with everyone. Just Shazam it.

Shazam is a wonderful app that will detect music playing around you just at the hit of a button. Of course, it won’t recognize you humming in the bathroom. It will listen to the song, recognize it and play it for you if you want. Consider it the Encyclopedia of songs. Every recognized producer label and artist are featured on Shazam. You can also Shazam your way into the top 100 music tracks around the world. Oh and one of their neatest new features is that it not only detects the Name of the Song and Artist, but it also detects what streaming services you use on your device and will provide you with the option to play the song on the service that you use.

It is available on android as well as iOS.

There are numerous streaming websites that music lovers tune into. Some noteworthy apps like Hungama and Wynk are guides to Bollywood, Indie and Hollywood music.

We know you want to try out Indian music in lossless quality. To fullfill this desire of yours, we have curated a Mixtape HD that features FLAC files in lossless quality. Indie, Classical, Pop and many other artists have been featured in this Mixtape. You can download it here for free.

When it comes to music, you just want your stuff to be as you like. Get through these apps to find your favourite. Let’s get our headphones on, and start some nerve clinching music. Happy Music Exploration.

Rishikesh Kisla

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